The Test
by AZNKIM
Summary: The war between light and dark rages on, but Hermione finds herself in a place she cannot escape; or can she with a certain someones help? Is this going to be one test Hermione Granger cannot pass? or will she suffer alone in darkness...


**The Test  
**

The dim light from underneath the wooden door illuminated the small, chilly room I was trapped in. The uneven stones on the floor made sitting more uncomfortable and made my ragged body, covered in thick purple bruises sting deeper into my skin. If I had a mirror to look at I was sure the reflection wouldn't even come close to resembling the girl I use to be. My lip felt as if it was going to burst open, my cheeks on fire, burning from his touch; how much longer could I survive through this...

_Take a breath, take it deep_

"_Calm yourself," he says to me._

_If you play, you play for keeps_

_Take the gun, and count to three._

_I'm sweating now, moving slow,_

_No time to think, my turn to go._

I see the light get bigger, just enough to show me sitting on the floor. I see his shadow on the floor in front of me, I keep my head down, no need to say anything, I know what's coming and so does he.

"Calm yourself Granger, you must be use to this by now, it shouldn't come as any surprise" I heard Draco speak harshly towards me.

"Just take out your wand Malfoy and get it over with already..." I forced my rugged and hoarse voice to speak out quietly back at him.

I can feel the sweat running down my forehead, the adrenaline pumping faster through my veins, getting ready for the blow that my body was about to endure. He could damage my appearance all he wanted; it didn't damage my outlook on life and the people I was fighting for inside my heart.

_And you can see my heart beating,_

_You can see it though my chest._

_Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving,_

_I know I must past this test._

_So just pull the trigger._

"Are you no longer scared Granger? I can hear your heartbeat from the other end of the corridor; I'm sure if I touched your chest I would be able to feel it about to burst out of you."

"I'm scared, but not because of you. I know this has to be done, this has to be done for the people I love to survive, and that makes me scared because I don't want to fail them..." Sobs erupted from my swollen lips.

_Say a prayer to yourself,_

_He says, "close your eyes, sometimes it helps"._

_And then I get a scary thought,_

_That he's here means he's never lost._

A scary realization comes to my thoughts, if he's here that means he's completing the dark lord's deeds successfully and only god knows what he has been asked to do; who hes been asked to kill.

"Just close your eyes Granger, sometimes it helps, I would know..." His voice sounds almost morbid and distant, something I had never encountered when he was down here. He always remained his harsh, selfish self and showed me no emotion or mercy of any kind. "What was wrong with him" was all I could think.

The shadow of his arm rises away from the rest of his sunken body towards me, and I see the shadow of his wand at the end of his hand, its coming, the pain, the darkness, and this time, just like every other time, maybe death.

"Crucio" Draco utters as silent as possible.

_As my life flashes before my eyes,_

_I'm wondering will I ever see another sunrise?_

_So many won't get the chance to say goodbye,_

_But it's too late to think of the value of my life._

I try to focus on something other than the intense pain thrashing through my entire body from limb to limb. I think of the sun, how beautiful its rays look like, how it feels when its warmth hits my skin, and I wonder will I ever be able to see its beauty; at least one last time. If I die now, here, I wouldn't have even gotten the chance to say goodbye, to Ron, Harry, Ginny, My Parents... No one. In this war so many wouldn't get that chance either; the thought brings me to tears almost every night.

It feels like hours, then the pain finally ceases and I'm able to take in a big breath of air through my mouth into my lungs. I'm no longer sitting in the same position I once was but sprawled out on the stone floor, my left cheek touching the icy floor; it feels refreshing from the usual constant burning.

"Are you still alive Granger?" his voice is back to its normal, emotional sound.

"Unfortunately...Malfoy" I manage to choke out.

"Don't give up now Hermione, if you do, then that really means there isn't any hope left out there." I hear him say as he bends down to the ground to get a glimpse of me. I lift my head enough just to look him in the eyes; to my surprise his grey, icy blue ones are looking back into my brown ones.

"What is that suppose to mean Malfoy? Don't think I don't know your tricks, you don't care about anyone but yourself" I spat back at him.

"I thought if at least one person could see the real me it would have been you Granger. Don't think that you are the only one breaking when I crucio you, if I don't they'll kill me, then your only real hope of getting out of here alive is gone... You need me and I need you" that was the last thing he said to be as he got up and left the room, closing the door behind him and taking the light with him.

I was stunned, every last word he spoke was cryptic. Did it mean he was fighting on the light side? Was he part of the order, a spy? I picked myself off the floor and brought my bloody legs to my chest and wrapped my bruised arms around them; holding myself together. I ran his words through my mind a thousand times before I came to the unbelievable conclusion, he loved me and he was the only reason I had stayed alive this long, anyone else would have tortured me to the point of death, and even though he put me through pain, I could forgive a little more inside and look past the exterior he put up in front of everyone. He was known as Draco Malfoy, the death eater to everyone, but to me he was Malfoy, the boy fighting for me; when no one else would.

_And you can see my heart beating._

_

* * *

R&R  
_


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